Why bikini-clad Marilyn Monroe is developing into a nice investment...

Why bikini-clad Marilyn Monroe is developing into a nice investment...

On the anniversary of Marilyn Monroe's birthday, exciting new photos have come to light

Marilyn Monroe was born 85 years ago today and her collectible legacy is as strong as ever.

Just when you think she can't offer any more surprises, Marilyn Monroe has proved the memorabilia world wrong again.

A number of never-before-seen Monroe photos have recently come to light. A New Jersey photographer purchased two envelopes of negatives for $2 in the 1980s. Upon recently developing them, he found to his delight they contained 33 images of a circa 1950's MM, posing in a bikini.

Although the location and the photographer behind the shots remain a mystery, we expect this unusual item of Monroe memorabilia to sell for a significant amount should it ever arrive at auction thanks to its unique nature and Marilyn's enduring appeal.

"I'm not out here trying to make a million dollars - although that would be nice," the photographer Anton Fury told Fox News.

Monroe's outfit from The Seven Year Itch, which noted Monroe dress collector David Gainsborough Roberts told us was the "most famous film dress, probably of all time anywhere", comes to a Profiles in History auction on June 18.

Could Marilyn's assets boost yours?

The dress, which forms parts of the Debbie Reynolds Collection sale, has a $2m estimate.

Reynolds's collection comprises 4,000 costumes and 3,000 posters from the silent screen period to the 1970s.

Monroe's memorabilia is some of the most sought-after on the market. The dress she wore while serenading JFK sold at auction in 1999 for $1,267,500 and more recently an x-ray of her chest taken in 1954 made $25,000.